Trolley for bucket conveyers



Feb. 10, 1931. H. c. SHELDON 1,791,844

TROLLEY FOR BUCKET GQNVEYERS Filed May 12. 1927 2 Sheets-Sheet l J J1 fszd n :NVENToh ATTORNEY H. c. SHELDON 1,791,844

TROLLEY FOR BUCKET CONVEYERS Filed May 12, 1927 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 1%. .5

Feb. 10, 1-931.

ATTORNEY Patented Feb. 10, 1931 UNITED STATES PATENT o FIcE HENRY C.SHELDON, OF CHICAGO, TLLINOIS, ASSIGNOR T GIFFORD -WOOD COMPANY,

OF HUDSON, NEW YORK, A CORPORATION OF NEW, YORK TROLLEY FOR BUCKETOONVEYERS Application filed May 12,

This invention relates to trolley bucket conveyers, and among other obects, aims to prolong the life of the trolley sheaves over,

10, a pit 11, a hopper l2 discharging into the pit through a gate 13 andreceiving material dumped from a railroad car (not shown) over track 14,and guides 15 in the pit for carrying the bucket in proper positiontoward and away from the gate 13. The bucket is hoisted by a line 16which'is controlled by a hoist engine 17, and is moved along a monorail18 (Figs. 2 and 3) by a trolley line 19 until it is over a bin or otherreceptacle (not shown) for receiving the load discharged by the bucket.A plant of this type is well suited for handling coal, sand, cinders,gravel and other heavy, semi-fluent materials, as it combines highhandling capacity with low labor cost.

During use of the apparatus, however, certain operating difficultiesdevelop. As described in the application of V. H. Towne filed November8, 1926 and assigned to the assignee of the present application, it ishighly advantageous to obviate the pendulum-like swing of the bucket,which is suspended from the trolley by the hoist line, and because ofits weight, oscillates through a con-. siderable arc in the plane of themonorail when the trolley is suddenly started and stopped. Hence aspring buffer construction is suspended from the trolley and engages thebail of the bucket to dampen the oscillations of the bucket. Figs. 2 and3 of the drawings show the spring buffer 20 of the aforesaid Towneapplication, and said buffer therefore will not be further described. Inpractice, however, it has been found that the added weight of the springbuifer tends to hold the 1927. Serial No. 190,342.

lower part of the trolley vertical, even when thehoist line leading tothe bucket is at an angle, due to the lowering of the bucket intothe-pit, which is always to one side of the monorail. This will beunderstood from Fig. 1, As the trolley sheaves 21 are carried by theswingable part of the trolley and rotate on axes extendingftransverselyof the trolley (Figs. 2 and 3), it follows that the hoist line leadsof]? at an angle from the two sheaves so'that a strain is put on oneside of the sheave bearings, and serious wear takes place as the line.rubs against the flanges of the sheaves. Consequently the sheaves failand must be replacedbefore the'pl'ant'can be put in'operation again. Tocause the hoist line to lead ofi as nearly as possible in the plane ofthe trolley sheaves, I have devised an improved trolley construction,whereby the excess weight of the buiferis compensated w by acounterweightadjustable on an arm eX- tending from the trolley.

Referring to Figs. 2 and 5, the trolley, which is hinged along ahorizontal linev as indicated at 21, has an arm 22 fast thereto andextending outwardly from the middle of the trolley substantially atright angles, and

horizontal when the trolley is vertical. The arm 22 has a counterweight23 secured as by set-screws, and movable along the arm so as to adaptthe standardized trolley to various conditions found in differentinstallations. The counterweight will be set so as to counteract thetendency of the spring buffer to hold the trolley vertical and so astocause the trolley to swing into a plane which will result in minimumwear on the sheave flanges and bearings. When the bucket is hoistedclear of the guides 15, it will be substantially directly below thetrack, and its weight will then be effective to cause the trolley tohang vertically, again with minimum wear on the sheave.

Obviously the present invention is not restricted to the particularembodiment thereoi herein shown and described.

hat I claim is 1. A trolley for hoist buckets comprising, incombination, a hinged structure adapted to be supported from an elevatedtrack a butler carried on the trolley below the hinge axis forengagement by the bucket to check oscillation thereof; and means toimpart a tendency to the trolley to swing in the direction of the bucketas the bucket descends, said means counteracting the tendency of thetrolley to hangvertically.

2. A trolley for hoist buckets comprising, in combination, a hingedstructure adapted to be supported from anelevated track; sheaves on thetrolley below said hinge axis; a" hoistrope for the bucket trained oversaid sheaves; a butter mechanism interposed between the bucket andtrolley and operative on close approach of the same to checkoscillations of the bucket; and a counterweight on the trolley below thehinge axis constructed and arranged to move the lower part of thetrolley with the sheaves in the direction of '20 the bucket as thebucketdescends, whereby the bucket-supporting rope does not subject thesheaves and bearingsto destructive wear. '3. A trolley for hoist bucketscomprising, in combination, a hinged trolley structure adapted to besupported from an elevated track; sheaves on the trolley below the hingeaxis; a hoist rope for the bucket trained over said sheaves a buffermechanism on the lower part of the trolley, below the hinge. axis, for 0checking oscillations of the bucket when the bucket is hoisted to apoint adjacent the trolley; an arm fixed to the lower part of thetrolley and extending substantially at right angles to the hinge axisof'the trolley, and being substantially horizontal when the lower partof the trolleyiis plumb; and a weight adjustable on said arm to causethe lower part of the trolley to hang out of'plumb and inclined towardthe pointwhere the bucket is loaded, when permitted by a slackening intensionof the hoist rope.

In testimony, that I claim the foregoing as my own, Ihave hereto affixedmy signature.

HENRY o. SHE DON;

